6 comments MMQB Review: Did You Know Anquan Boldin Got Traded? Edition

Peter King launched The MMQB last week with his inaugural MMQB column that appeared on the The MMQB site. It turns out that Peter believes The MMQB to be the "thinking man's football site," which is always a nice change and I took it to mean Peter would not be writing at The MMQB...but it turns out I was wrong. It seems the "thinking man's football site" involves talking about pizza with Colin Kaepernick and three things that Tom Brady thinks. I guess we'll see how the site plays out, but MMQB is the exact same (not The MMQB, but MMQB the column) as it always has been. Peter complains about having to deal with the public and gives us insider information on his favorite beers. This week Peter tells us the most overlooked storyline of training camp (which most likely will boil down to "Does Colin Kaepernick like mushrooms on his pizza or does he just like plain cheese pizza?"), advises airlines to work on their boarding procedures (Peter is Zone 1 dammit! He's not sitting nor boarding with people who make less than six figures and you can't make him do it), and compares Wes Welker to Jerry Rice out of spite for his readers. 

What I love about NFL training camps was on display Sunday, around 4:30 in the afternoon, as the sun beat down on the fields where the Super Bowl favorites (in the eyes of many) went through their fourth practice of the summer.

Was it the sound of a person being thrashed with a cane for having the audacity to talk on their cell phone in your presence while you washed down an Allagash White and wondered why servants just aren't as affordable as they used to be?

From the right slot, Anquan Boldin, the uber-valuable Ravens wideout who broke so many Niners-loving hearts with a 100-yard receiving game in the Super Bowl fewer than six months ago, cut across the middle of the first-team Niners defense. Nnamdi Asomugha trailed, but just barely, in tight coverage on him. The quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, went elsewhere with the throw. But just seeing Boldin in Niners red, wearing his familiar No. 81, was notable for a couple of reasons:

So what Peter loves the most about training camp is the lack of continuity in the salary cap era and how non-guaranteed contracts can cause veteran players to be traded on the cheap?  This is a long treasured training camp tradition.

One, the best receiver in the 2012 postseason moving from brother (John Harbaugh) to brother (Jim) in a lightning-fast trade has gotten far too little attention in the NFL world. Two, with the Achilles injury to top San Francisco wideout Michael Crabtree knocking him out until at least midseason, Boldin, traded for a pittance (the 199th pick in the April draft) could be the most important receiver on two different Super Bowl contenders just months apart. And nobody’s talking about it. It’s the NFL story hiding in plain sight.

I think there was a fairly big to-do about Boldin going to the 49ers back when he actually got traded. I remember Peter writing a column about it and I remember reading other columns about this trade. Boldin was traded on the cheap, but I'm not sure why there has to be an uproar about his leaving the Ravens team to go to San Francisco. Boldin hasn't had a 1000 yard season since 2009 and hasn't caught double-digit touchdowns since 2008. He had a great postseason, but I think this is a case where the last thing being remembered is the only thing being remembered. Boldin is going to be 33 in October and he was never the fastest receiver as it is. I don't understand how this is an NFL story hiding in plain sight. It's really not that exciting unless you are the type of writer who gets aroused at the idea of an NFL player being traded from one Harbaugh brother's team to another...which apparently is the type of writer Peter King is.

Also, don't say Peter didn't warn you The MMQB wouldn't have hard-hitting stories! Anquan Boldin has changed Harbaugh brothers. Why doesn't anyone talk about the Harbaugh brothers? What an underrated storyline they are. Do John and Jim have parents? Why hasn't anyone talked to Jim and John Harbaugh's father about how he feels to have two sons that coach in the NFL? I wonder which brother they cheered for in the Super Bowl last year?

“It’s amazing how quiet it’s been,” 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said after practice Sunday.

Not really. I'd like to talk more about how quickly Nnamdi Asomugha has gone from being considered one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL to being cut by the Eagles for a reason that wasn't completely salary-cap related. Can we talk about how three summers ago Peter King made Asomugha seem like he was on par with Darrelle Revis and reported breathlessly on his free agency, only to find Peter got quiet with a "nothing to see here"-ness about it when Asomugha's performance didn't merit the free agency attention he gave it? Oh, we can't talk about it? Great, then.

But first, the two things about the Boldin deal, and its aftermath here, that interest me the most:

1. The story at the time was how quickly the March 11 deal between Baltimore and San Francisco came together, after the Ravens decided they’d rather cut Boldin than pay him the full $6 million he was due in 2013. Just how sudden did the deal get done? “From start to finish, about 40 minutes,” Jim Harbaugh said in his office Sunday.

Is this really shocking? The Ravens were going to cut Boldin and the 49ers were getting a great deal on a proven receiver. This deal should have taken five minutes, but I'm sure the Ravens spent 35 minutes seeing if any other NFL team would want to take Boldin off their hands for more than a 6th round pick while also paying Boldin's $6 million salary.

“I was told to be myself from day one,” Boldin said as the Niners opened defense of their NFC title in the shadow of the quickly rising stadium that will be their home beginning in 13 months. “So I feel comfortable to speak up if I see something that can help this team.”

Why aren't more people talking about how Anquan Boldin can talk? What an underrated story this is.

And there he was Sunday, rambling across the middle and exchanging ideas with Kaepernick after plays, rushing to get on the same page.

Why are more people not talking about Anquan Boldin's ability to exchange ideas? This is the overlooked story of this decade in sports.

One more thing about Niners camp Sunday: Anyone who watched practice understood why Jim Harbaugh chose Kaepernick over Alex Smith last November.

Anyone who saw Alex Smith play quarterback over the last two seasons and saw that Harbaugh had maxed out Smith's abilities understood why Harbaugh chose Kaepernick over Alex Smith. My question is why it took so damn long to get in Kaepernick in there for Smith.

News of the Weekend.

Allagash White is still a great beer. That is all the news Peter cares to share. Well, also sitting and drinking beer is underrated. Why don't more people do this?

On Percy Harvin. Harvin flies to New York to be examined by a hip specialist Tuesday after feeling some restrictions while running last week. Harvin got nervous about it, saw the usually conservative Seahawks doctors (who believe the injury isn’t season-threatening), and decided to exercise his option to have a second opinion.

Alex Rodriguez is jealous that Percy Harvin has the right to a second medical opinion.

That leads the Seahawks to think they’ll escape a season-ending injury for Harvin. I’ve got a little different opinion on this than most.

Peter's opinion is the Zone 3 folks just need to fucking wait their turn and not get near the Zone 1 folks trying to get on the plane! Wait, sorry I jumped the gun on that one. That's not until later in this MMQB.

Harvin had trust issues with authority in Minnesota, dating back to a poor relationship with head coach Brad Childress. So now the Seahawks can establish that they’re going to be different—they’re going to give their blessing on getting the second opinion, and they’re going to tell Harvin, We want you to have peace of mind about your hip.

Harvin has trust issues so the Seahawks are going to cater to Harvin's trust issues by saying, "Our doctors could be wrong. It's best not to trust us. Go get a second opinion on your hip from your own doctor." Perhaps I am thinking too logical, but if Harvin's poor relationship with Brad Childress and Harvin's problem with authority caused him issues in Minnesota, then couldn't it be possible allowing him to see his own doctor (IF the doctor comes back with a different diagnosis) feed into those trust issues? It seems to me like this could go really well or really badly for Seattle if Harvin really has difficulty with authority and then the Seahawks doctors and Harvin's own personal doctor disagree on treatment for his hip.

Opening day is 41 days away, and aside from the fact that Russell Wilson and Harvin need to be building familiarity, there’s not a major issue with a guy who has a history of missing time (10 games in four seasons) getting as healthy as he can in the preseason and feeling good about his physical condition entering the season.

At least the Seahawks aren't asking to smell Harvin's car.

On Von Miller. I’ll be very interested to see what Miller’s defense in challenging a four-game league suspension will be.

It's never that interesting really to hear these appeals. Usually it involves the player blaming someone else or saying he accidentally took the substance that he tested positive for.

On Jeremy Maclin. What’s most hurtful about Maclin being lost for the season with a torn ACL after collapsing at practice Saturday is that Eagles coach Chip Kelly needs the quickness and playmaking Maclin surely would have provided the offense.

Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I'm pretty sure that is what is most hurtful about Maclin being lost for the season, the fact he is fast and very good at playing football. I guess this is the type of hard-hitting, in-depth reporting The MMQB will provide.

"What hurts the Broncos most by Peyton Manning's head falling off during practice is that he is a Hall of Fame quarterback and the Broncos were really counting on him being their starter this year."

This GM said one of the reasons Kelly would be in such high demand is because he consistently took players other colleges didn’t want and turned them into high-functioning players in a fast-paced offense. I wouldn’t count out the Eagles.

Peter, it's late July. No one has counted out the Eagles yet. Calm down.

I just figure Kelly will use the summer to test two or three guys down the depth chart (Greg Salas, Cooper, Arrelious Benn) and find a way to make plays. I still think who the quarterback is, and how fast the offense can play competently, will be a bigger factor in Philly’s success or failure than the loss of Maclin.

Peter believes whether the Eagles have a competent quarterback may play a bigger role in how successful the Eagles season is. Who knew competent quarterback play was so vital to a team's success? Who knew that whoever Chip Kelly chooses as the Eagles quarterback could have such a large impact on the Eagles season? I have learned so much on The MMQB reading MMQB.

On Amber Theoharis. You recall from last week’s column (or maybe you don’t) that NFL Network anchor Amber Theoharis had a baby by Caesarian section four hours after going off the air hosting NFL Total Access July 17. Theoharis was in labor during the show. Now for the rest of the story, from Theoharis, via email: “We weren’t expecting her to come while I was still working. I should have known better. My first girl, Dylan Mattea, was 12 weeks premature. I began labor with her in the Chicago White Sox press box while working as a beat reporter for the Orioles in 2010. That time Jim Palmer held my hand, 

Jim Palmer, always the pimp. Hopefully he was fully clothed and not just wearing his briefs while holding her hand.

Never in my life would I believe Willie McGinest and Warren Sapp would be part of my child’s birth story. They were. Willie McGinest was sitting next to me during that break when I knew the contractions were getting stronger. As a father of three. he knew what was up.

Let's be honest, does it require having three children to figure out a woman over 8 months pregnant who appears to be having contractions could be going into labor? It seems like it's not a tough deduction to get this point where you think, "This woman is about to have a baby," whether you are a father of three children or zero children.

This is why we love Warren. He just kept yelling across the set. ‘She’s going to have that baby!’ 

Then Sapp called the baby "a snitch" and offered to eat the placenta in the delivery room if that is what Theoharis wanted him to do.

So on Friday of draft weekend last April, Wisconsin running back Montee Ball and his family rented a room in a Madison hotel to celebrate his being drafted. It happened in round two, when the Broncos chose Ball.
“My phone started blowing up,” Ball said the other day. “You know, friends and family all texting and calling to congratulate me. I couldn’t read ‘em all, there were so many. Then this real long one came in, from a number I didn’t know. Like, Congratulations, so proud of you, you worked so hard to get to this point, you made your mark at Wisconsin, and now this is what we expect of you. Stuff like that. I scrolled all the way down, and at the bottom, it said, ‘P. Manning.’ Whoa! Peyton Manning texted me. I said, ‘Hey! I got Peyton Manning’s phone number!’ 

I am not surprised.

Yes Peter, we know you aren't surprised at Peyton reaching out to Montee Ball. You know Peyton Manning and you know that Peyton Manning does stuff like this. You are an NFL insider with access. That's why people read your column.

What I want to happen is an enterprising person to text the Broncos first round draft pick next year pretending to be Peyton Manning (before Manning can contact the player) and ask him to do some crazy stuff. Tell him to get on a plane immediately and head to Denver to practice, but he is expected to practice in women's clothing only. 

Manning did the same thing after the Colts drafted Donald Brown in 2009, and I’m sure if I asked every offensive guy drafted by his team in recent years, they’d say Manning reached out to them and began laying the plan for the guy to get to know the offense.

This is basically Peyton's polite way of saying "Get your ass on the field, I want to work with you."

Manning, 37, and I spoke for The MMQB when I was in Denver on Thursday (more coming soon in our every-weekday 3Q Interview),

Yes, we need MORE Peyton Manning. God knows we don't get enough of him in the Fall when he is in every fifth commercial.

Ten things I learned out West.

Never draw your gun if you don't intend to use it?

1. Coaches watched the Jason Garrett speech. A couple were surprised that the Cowboys allowed the 35-minute tape of Garrett’s pre-training-camp speech to his team to be shared with The MMQB. Two coaches I’ve spoken to watched the entire 35 minutes. “A good resource,” one said.

The best part of this resource is knowing that Jerry Jones gave approval for Garrett's speech to be run in MMQB and Garrett probably has no control over the team. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Jerry Jones wrote that speech. I'm kidding of course. Jones' personal assistant would write the speech and then give it to Garrett to deliver to the team.

4. Eric Mangini’s back. Hidden, quiet and understated, Mangenius watches practice as a Niners offensive consultant—he, of course, has been a longtime defensive coach—and tries to absorb Greg Roman’s offense.

I think that "Mangenius" nickname probably shouldn't be used anymore. Doesn't seem appropriate at this point.

5. Quentin Jammer could be reborn in Denver. The Broncos are looking at him at safety in the nickel and also at slot corner. His impact could be felt most in his versatility. And by the way, John Elway loves him some Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Thinks he’ll be reborn playing next to Champ Bailey and Chris Harris.

Is "reborn" Peter's "Word of the Day" or something. Has "Word of the Day" been reborn?

If this doesn’t make you feel old, nothing will.

Seeing this line on the camp roster of the New York Giants:

Experience: 10.

Eli Manning, a 10-year veteran. Same for Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, of course.

Just another reminder of how time marches on for everyone in this game, and how it won’t be long before the Giants, Chargers and Steelers have to start thinking of life after their franchise quarterbacks.

Oh by the way Peter, the Steelers drafted Landry Jones and the Giants drafted Ryan Nassib in this past year's draft. So they are way ahead of you on this thought. Good looking out on the whole "Look for the Steelers, Chargers, and Giants to start thinking about life after their franchise quarterback" thing though.

In Praise of Wes Welker Dept.:

Receptions by Wes Welker over the past six seasons: 672.
Receptions by Jerry Rice over the most productive six-year period of his career: 604 (from 1991 to ’96).

Is that right? It doesn't feel right.

That’s right:

So it is right.

Well, let’s run the numbers. Rice was 33 years and 3 months old when he finished that 604-catch run. Welker was 31 years and 8 months old when he played his last regular-season game for New England and finished his six-year roll.

Peter is not directly comparing Jerry Rice to Wes Welker, but he is also making some sense of a comparison of Jerry Rice to Wes Welker. Welker is a great receiver, but he and Rice are just completely different types of wide receivers who played in different types of offenses. I recognize the strength of Welker as a player, but he's asked to do different things from Rice. So whether Peter means to or not, he is comparing these two players. I am not sure I would even know where to begin when discussing a comparison of Wes Welker to Jerry Rice.

There are 11 players with 900 or more catches who are not in the Hall yet—some either still playing or not eligible—and the field will be teeming soon, with Andre Johnson, Jason Witten, Steve Smith and Larry Fitzgerald likely to go over 900 in the next couple years. I believe 15 years down the road, there will be 15 receivers knocking on the Hall doors with 1,000 catches on their resumes. A grim task faces the 46 Hall voters at receiver, to be sure.

It sounds like 1000 catches shouldn't be the whole criteria for whether a player makes it into the Hall of Fame. Perhaps other factors should be considered like the quality of the quarterback the receiver played with for his career, how tall he was (the shorter the player is, the better chance he has of making the Hall of Fame), and whether he had another great receiver on the other side of him that helped to make his 1000 catches less or more impressive.

I'm kidding about making these criteria part of the Hall of Fame consideration (by using criteria that would get Steve Smith in the Hall of Fame). Well sort of, these factors should be somewhat considered, but I think 1000 catches shouldn't be an automatic qualifier for the Hall of Fame as it once seemed to be.

To underscore the historic impact Tony Gonzalez is having on the tight end position:
 
Gonzalez has 427 more receptions than any other tight end in NFL history. Mike Ditka had 427 catches in his Hall of Fame career.

This says more about how the game of football has evolved and how certain offensive players who were inducted in the past are going to have puny looking numbers in the future compared to modern players.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

This section is named after a gentleman that Peter ran into at a hotel who referred to himself in a pretentious manner as a "Starwood Preferred Member." This guy thought he was special because of this, but in the following story Peter is going to basically do the same thing and believe he is special because he has a Zone 1 boarding pass. Let's just say Peter is not self-aware.

LaGuardia Airport, New York, Wednesday afternoon, gate B1, Frontier Airlines, pre-flight announcements and reaction for a flight to Denver:

Feel the tension and drama!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Frontier Airlines and our flight to Denver. We will be boarding by zones today. Any families with small children who need some extra time to board, please approach the gate.

Four or five families approach the gate. Twenty or so other people, adults traveling without children, clog the gate area. 

The audacity of these people to not immediately move aside fully knowing they are in the presence of Peter King. What an audacious display. Peter does not feel re-born when he sees displays like this.

Now if we have any Ascent members, you are free to board. Ladies and gentlemen, please step aside to allow our families and Ascent members room to board.
No one steps aside. The moochers have to be walked through. Now there are more of them. Thirty, maybe. Two minutes pass. The frequent Frontier flyers excuse themselves repeatedly to move through the louts who don’t belong there.

This is madness. It only gets worse for Peter too. He is Zone 1. Zone 1, dammit, and these louts aren't going to move so he can get by. Where are the police when you need them?

Now ladies and gentlemen, if your boarding card is marked with Zone 1, you may board.

The non-Zone-1 people are eight-deep. I have a Zone 1 boarding pass.

Now these louts have poked the bear. Peter is going to angrily drag his rolling suitcase up to the counter, mumble about them under his breath and then get these people back by writing about them in his weekly NFL column. That'll show them real good.

I excuse myself through the mass of people, over and over. The man in front of me has a midsized rolling suitcase, a bulging hanging bag fastened and slung over his shoulder, and a fat black backpack. “Sir,’’ the gate attendant says, “you’re in Zone 3. You have to wait. Please stand to the side.” He starts saying there won’t be overhead space when he boards, and asks if he could please board now. The attendant says, “No.” Sanity prevails.

What an inconvenience that Peter had to be bothered with this man. Peter has a Zone 1 boarding pass. He should have his own waiting area for the plane, but no, he doesn't make a big deal about not having his own waiting area as long as no Zone 3 passengers would come near his person. Yet, that's what happens. Peter had to wait an extra 30 seconds to board the plane because of these people and that's just absolutely unacceptable. He has a Zone 1 boarding pass, dammit! In 30 seconds, Peter could transcribe a few sentences of a complete stranger's cell phone conversation. You are ruining his life's work now by making him wait an additional 30 seconds.

Over the years, the airlines have slowly lost control of the boarding process. And this crap is what happens. It’s aerial line-cutting. Would you try to cut a line at, say, a movie theater?

Yes, people do this at the theater. They do the whole "I know that guy and am going to jump ahead and talk to him while also buying my ticket with him" move all the time.

If you’ve got too much luggage and are afraid you won’t be able to store your bag, check it.

I'm not going to defend this guy for cutting in line, but checking a bag is expensive. Still, three bags is too many, that I will agree with and I've never had a Zone 1 boarding pass.

And airlines, get control of the process with better pens to separate us cattle.

Or every airline will lose Peter as a passenger and then he will use trains to travel all around the United States. The train industry is struggling enough as it is, do you really want Peter pointing out everything the United States rail system does wrong?

“I would like to thank the Cardinal organization for 3 amazing years, my teammates, my media buddies and more importantly the fans. Thank you”

—@Ob_Scho, veteran NFL linebacker O’Brien Schofield, after being let go by the Cardinals.

Normal, everyday tweet. Nothing special about it. So why’d I use it?

Did Schofield sign with the Rams or something? 

To show you the class of O’Brien Schofield. On Thursday, walking out to practice with his team, Schofield was stopped by a Cardinals employee. Schofield needed to go see the GM, Steve Keim. And right there, at the same time the rest of his mates were practicing, Schofield was cut, after a full offseason of training. Turns out the Cardinals, after signing veteran pass rusher John Abraham, deemed Schofield expendable

Schofield will have a shot to make the Seahawks now. Seattle picked him up Saturday afternoon.

It's easy to be kind like this when you know that you have been claimed by another team after being cut. I'm not taking away from Schofield's class, but he thanked the Cardinals at 5:01pm and Tweeted he was a Seahawk at 5:04pm. It's easy to thank your prior employer once you know you have another job. So I still wonder why Peter used this Tweet because it's easy to be classy to your former employer knowing you already have a new job lined up.

Ten Things I Think I Think

a. And so you say, regarding all the training camp injuries: Why are teams so willing to risk injuries to vital players by practicing full-speed so often during the summer? I say: It’s the game. Would you want Miguel Cabrera opening the regular season in baseball having faced nothing but soft-toss in spring training?

I'm not a Tigers fan, so yes, I would want Cabrera opening the regular season ("in baseball" Peter adds, just to differentiate from Cabrera opening up the regular season playing for the Red Wings I guess) having faced nothing but soft-toss in spring training.

e. Tim Tebow caught three passes in the first practice of Patriots training camp. I see him being in the mold of a utility player if he makes the team, active some weeks and inactive others, not playing one set position.

Peter has to put at least one mention of Tebow into MMQB. I'm sure Peter is one week away from going on a rant about people who have made Tebow going to New England a big deal and feel the need to constantly update us on everything Tebow is doing at Patriots training camp.

i. Eight Washington players suspended for drug violations over the past three years, according to the Washington Post. Not good. Sounds like it’s time for GM Bruce Allen to chat with his scouts about character.

Why don't the Redskins just have Senator Robert Griffin III talk to them? He's just like Bill Bradley, you know?

2. I think it’s foreign to most of us that a player can significantly improve his speed, but Colin Kaepernick thinks he’s done just that this offseason.

It's probably all that pizza Kaepernick ate in the offseason.

4. I think the star turn of Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman may be just beginning. Not just because of his appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week (if you haven’t, read the first of a series of guest columns he’s writing for The MMQB). But walking through the terminal at Denver International Airport late Thursday, I saw a young boy with a “YOU MAD BRO?” t-shirt.

This was a "thing" before Richard Sherman posted it on his Twitter account. I was a little confused by the "Sports Illustrated" article that seemed to indicate Sherman had created the "You mad bro?" saying/meme, but I'm pretty sure it was around long before he used it in reference to the Seahawks beating Tom Brady.

6. I think, speaking of the Eagles, give Chip Kelly credit for having an open mind, which I believe he does when it comes to his quarterback competition. “I think we’ve got to figure out who our quarterback is before we understand the direction of where our offense is going,’’ Kelly said after running his first NFL training camp practice Friday. “Tell me who’s going to stand in the pocket against a full rush. I haven’t seen them do that.”

Part of the appeal of Mike Vick is that he doesn't stand in the pocket against a full rush and has the ability to roll out of the pocket and scramble if necessary. I'm not an Eagles fan, but if I were, I would be a little concerned the direction of the offense is up in the air until the quarterback competition is decided.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. It’d be hard to get used to having medium-to-loud music of all sorts playing at every camp and in-season practice, the way Seattle coach Pete Carroll does. His theory: It’s going to be noisy every week in the NFL, at every stadium, during every game. So let’s get used to dealing with noise at all times. Carroll’s an eclectic music guy. I thought a polka might break out at some point Friday.

This is a non-football thought? This sounds like a very football-related thought.

d. No one in baseball deserves big money more than Dustin Pedroia. That comes from someone who watches him 40 times a year and who is never disappointed.

BREAKING NEWS: Red Sox fans like Dustin Pedroia. Would Peter still like Pedroia if Pedroia had a Zone 3 boarding pass and tried to board a plane before people with Zone 1 boarding passes though? 

e. Told you the Rays would be great. Man, they can pitch.

You certainly did tell us. No one else thought the Rays would be any good this year.

i. Coffeenerdness: Two tries at a vital 6:10 a.m. Macchiato at two different Starbucks at the Seattle airport. Two fails. That’s my biggest Starbucks problem: the inconsistency of the espresso shots. Sometimes rich and perfect, sometimes bitter or watery.

I wonder if Peter realizes what a whiny person he sounds like? He considers the inconsistency of the espresso shot at Starbucks worth a complaint in his weekly NFL column. Does this really merit a public mention? He has absolutely no perspective or ability to deal with being even the slightest bit frustrated while out in public. The world must continue to revolve around his every whim. If these are the big inconveniences in Peter's life I would hate to see what would happen if he had a real problem.

j. Beernerdness: I’d been familiar with only one New Belgium Brewery beer—Fat Tire—before seeing the Rockies at Coors Field the other night. Now I have two I like. Ranger IPA is among the best IPAs I’ve had, flavorful and with the slight bitterness that characterizes all good IPAs.

Son of a bitch. That's probably one of my 5 favorite beers and now Peter has to go and like this beer also.

k. I don’t say this because we had the pleasure of Olivia Munn on The MMQB Wednesday. I say it because it’s true: Last week’s episode of The Newsroom was the best in the short history of the show.

I'm surprised Peter King doesn't absolutely love "The Newsroom." I have never seen the show, but it seems like the kind of show that Peter would absolutely love.

The Adieu Haiku
Pitta, Maclin. Shame.
Brutal July injuries.
War of attrition.

Because injuries like this that occur in the regular season and not training camp are so much better.